Going to the races while on sick leave.

.... who is certified not fit for work until next Monday..... I still intend going.

If you're not fit for work, surely you are not fit for a trip to the races...

If you now consider yourself fit for work you can always get back to your doctor and get your cert up until tomorrow and head back to work on Wednesday.

Clear conscience and all that (for me it would be at any case).
 
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For those who think it's ok, including the poster, why don't you phone your Employer, the person who pays you and explain the dilemma you're in. Ask him/her if it's ok for you to go to a race meeting. If they say yes, then you have no problem.
 
Sorry guys (and I think ye are all male) Deanpark, Gordon, Johnno, PebbleBeack, Blanketyblank, all of your opinions are outdated and do nothing to promote equality in the workplace, and if you are an employer or a people manager then I would recommend some education on equality and not discriminating towards people on the basis of their medical status.

None of us are GPs and they are the only ones who can decide on medical fitness for work.

There are numerous illnesses, including mental illness, temporary, long term, accidents etc that make you unfit for work while being perfectly capable about being seen out in public. Illness does not mean locking people up at home.
 
Sorry guys (and I think ye are all male) Deanpark, Gordon, Johnno, PebbleBeack, Blanketyblank, all of your opinions are outdated and do nothing to promote equality in the workplace, and if you are an employer or a people manager then I would recommend some education on equality and not discriminating towards people on the basis of their medical status.

None of us are GPs and they are the only ones who can decide on medical fitness for work.

There are numerous illnesses, including mental illness, temporary, long term, accidents etc that make you unfit for work while being perfectly capable about being seen out in public. Illness does not mean locking people up at home.
What the heck has the supposed gender of the posters with whom you disagree got to do with anything??
 
Sorry guys (and I think ye are all male) Deanpark, Gordon, Johnno, PebbleBeack, Blanketyblank, all of your opinions are outdated and do nothing to promote equality in the workplace, and if you are an employer or a people manager then I would recommend some education on equality and not discriminating towards people on the basis of their medical status.

None of us are GPs and they are the only ones who can decide on medical fitness for work.

There are numerous illnesses, including mental illness, temporary, long term, accidents etc that make you unfit for work while being perfectly capable about being seen out in public. Illness does not mean locking people up at home.
So based on your "logic" only a GP can post an opinion on this matter.

My input based on practical hands on experience of 30 years working in Ireland, UK and stints in Germany, Far East. And I don't apologise for giving the OP a sensible and pragmatic reply which may be tough to hear but his proposal to go off to the gee gees is potentially career suicide.
 
Thanks for the interesting mix of responses both for going racing and not going racing.

I would be a well regarded, long term employee. I turn up on time every time. There have never been any issues with my work. I get on with all of my colleagues and management. I have never been issued with any written or verbal warnings. My last sick day was 3 years ago.

I take on board the reasonable arguments put forward from the don’t go posters. But in my case anyway, I can't accept that going racing and meeting the boss could so negatively impact my future as suggested.

I am a good employee who is certified not fit for work until next Monday, if there is no basis for disciplinary action, then I still intend going.
Then why post a thread? If you are going to attend anyway.

I know of someone 23 years in a job , who was seen playing golf whilst out sick, sacked the minute he got back into work.

If you're sick and out of work on full pay , would you not be responsible and ensure that you are fit to work and perhaps take some of the burden of your work that was shared out amongst your colleagues to cover your bits while out "sick", instead of living in large at the races.

The races are on the telly some free to air.
 
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As a boss, you should be aware that introducing the fact that someone attended a race meeting while off on certified sick leave is only going to end badly for the employer unless you have a qualified opinion stating they were fit to work.
This is 100% correct, and any employer who attempts to discipline an employee on this basis this would lose at the WRC.

The OP knows their own work situation best, however, and whether "word getting around" could be informally detrimental to his career prospects.
 
If it is a short'ish term sick leave, say a week or two, I would not appreciate an employee on sick leave going to the races.
There's a chance that I would request an opinion from the doctor who issued the sick cert if this is an appropriate activity, and/or request additional assessment from a company appointed doctor.
Long term sick leave is a totally different story.
 
If someone I work with was off sick and I bumped into them at the races, I’d have concerns about their honesty, their work ethic, their ethics, and their intelligence.

To head off to the races is naive, foolish, and dishonest.

Plus it’s not just “the races”…it’s an Imelda May concert and booze-up.
 
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Sorry guys (and I think ye are all male) Deanpark, Gordon, Johnno, PebbleBeack, Blanketyblank, all of your opinions are outdated and do nothing to promote equality in the workplace, and if you are an employer or a people manager then I would recommend some education on equality and not discriminating towards people on the basis of their medical status.

None of us are GPs and they are the only ones who can decide on medical fitness for work.

There are numerous illnesses, including mental illness, temporary, long term, accidents etc that make you unfit for work while being perfectly capable about being seen out in public. Illness does not mean locking people up at home.
This is hilarious stuff.

A chancer’s charter!

Sorry boss, I can’t work, but I’m off to Leopardstown for the races AND THE IMELDA MAY CONCERT/BOOZE UP.

This Thursday is as much about the concert/party as it is about the race meeting.

It’s also possible to go back to work before one’s period of certified sick leave is over. Especially if one is well enough to attend an evening race meeting and concert!
 
My GP put me on a 7 day course of antibiotics and said I should be fine in 10 days but to take two weeks off and gave me a 2 week sick cert, I am due back in work next Monday. My employer is paying me while out sick.

your opinions are outdated and do nothing to promote equality in the workplace,

There are numerous illnesses, including mental illness, temporary, long term, accidents etc that make you unfit for work

Clamball

Did you read his first post. He is taking anti-biotics. My opinions might be outdated, but do they give antibiotics for mental illness and tell people it will improve in 10 days?

Presumably he has some sort of infection and has been told to mind himself.

That would not include going to Leopardstown.

Anyone with an ounce of sense could see that. The legal position might be that he could not be disciplined for going to a race meeting.


But it sounds to me that he is well enough to return to work and should do so. Then he can go to the race meeting with a clear conscience.

Brendan
 
Sorry guys (and I think ye are all male) Deanpark, Gordon, Johnno, PebbleBeack, Blanketyblank, all of your opinions are outdated and do nothing to promote equality in the workplace, and if you are an employer or a people manager then I would recommend some education on equality and not discriminating towards people on the basis of their medical status.

None of us are GPs and they are the only ones who can decide on medical fitness for work.

There are numerous illnesses, including mental illness, temporary, long term, accidents etc that make you unfit for work while being perfectly capable about being seen out in public. Illness does not mean locking people up at home.
Sanctimonious claptrap.

The poster said he/her/ or whatever the poster identifies as is on antibiotics, so its probably a bacterial infection. Its certainly not mental, an accident or an etc...which isn't an illness.

Being seen in public is fine, being seen on a racecourse watching and betting with the money the Employer is paying out for not working is ..............I suppose and illness too, but incurable as its greed, entitlement and shows another symptom of what's wrong with this country.

Get up the yard
 
Context is important here.

I wouldn't consider a day at the races comparable to any job. If there is such a job I'd like to know.

Now if someone was able to play a game of tennis, squash etc that would be different.

Surely, the sick leave record is the first thing to look at.

If the employee has taken sick leave every year which happens to be same week as the Galway Races (we had such a case and the squash player), then there is reason to investigate further.

If there is no pattern, nothing to see here.

I've only taken strong antibiotics once and did go work. I found it tough going.
 
Just to clarify, the only question I have asked is; Could there be any basis for disciplinary proceedings if my employer knew I was at the races while on certified and paid sick leave ? The answer seems to be a definite no, thanks to all who confirmed this.

There can be many illnesses where one can be out and about after antibiotics but not be well enough to work, a lot also depends on the job.

On Covid, believe me, I would have a far higher chance of catching it at work, than I would have outdoors on a sunny evening at Leopardstown races.
 
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